AllyQuest Adherence App Intervention for HIV-positive Men Who Have Sex With Men and Transgender Women: Pilot Trial

Summary

AllyQuest (AQ) is a theory-informed smart phone application that supports HIV medication adherence for young men who have sex with men and young transgender women who have sex with men (YMSM/YTW) via behavior change, social support, and game-based mechanics. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of AQ and AQ plus medication adherence counseling in a Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomization Trial.

Conditions

• Hiv
• HIV/AIDS
• Medication Adherence
• Sexual Behavior
• Sexually Transmitted Infections (Not HIV or Hepatitis)

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

AllyQuest HIV Medication Adherence app-delivered intervention

AQ provides daily ART reminders and calendar; weekly tailored message; monthly appointment and refill reminders; social support via daily chat wall; daily challenge featuring skills-building and articles; education center; narrative collections; in app "account" rewards daily use by adding or subtracting small financial reward dependent on daily app use; personalized profile and avatar. Participants have 24-hour access to all features of the AQ app.

BEHAVIORAL

AllyQuest HIV Medication Adherence app-delivered intervention + NSC

In AQ+, participants receive all of AQ and have the added ability to text in the app with an adherence counselor, using Next Step Counseling (NSC). NSC is an interactive, client-centered motivational intervention to improve ART adherence. Key components of NSC include: review experiences with adherence, exploration of adherence facilitators and barriers, identification of adherence needs, identification of strategies to meet needs, and development of an adherence action plan. AQ+ includes unprompted check-in messages from the NSC counselor and scheduled in-app NSC sessions approximately every other week.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• Medical University of South Carolina

  collaborator OTHER

• Wayne State University

  collaborator OTHER

• Rutgers University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Alabama at Birmingham

  collaborator OTHER

• North Carolina State University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kate Muessig, PhD · UNC-Chapel Hill

• Lisa Hightow-Weidman, MD, MPH · UNC-Chapel Hill

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

SEQUENTIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Max Age

29 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-07-08

Primary Completion

2022-06-04

Completion

2022-06-04

Countries

• United States

Study Locations